5 exciting things happening next year

19/07/2016 09:40

UAlberta has some amazing student events every year and there's some great things coming up that you won't want to miss! Plus Edmonton (where UAlberta is located) is a vibrant, growing city that has a lot of new arts, culture and sports facilities opening this year.

If you're coming to study at UAlberta soon, you chose a great time! Just check out some of the new amazing things happening over the next year:

Week of Welcome

This celebration, is exactly what it sounds like, the first week of school, where lots of activities happen to welcome students to UAlberta. Week of Welcome happens every year, but we promise this year is going to be great! Each year there are various events, such as concerts, orientation games, special food vendors and more.

The new arena and Ice District

Rogers Place is the new hockey arena in downtown Edmonton, opening in September 2016, it’s only minutes from our downtown campus. It will not only be home to Edmonton’s NHL hockey team, the Edmonton Oilers, but it will also be a major event space, holding up to 20,000 spectators. It’s already attracting some pretty big names like Kanye West, Amy Schumer and Keith Urban.

On top of that, the whole area around it has undergone redevelopment, into what is now called the "Ice District". Multiple blocks of entertainment, shopping and public facilities, even outdoor skating rinks!

The Royal Alberta Museum

The new Royal Alberta Museum (RAM) is opening next year, in 2017 and will be the largest museum in Western Canada! The RAM is largely a natural history and anthropology museum, featuring collections on Canadian history, dinosaurs and more!

The new museum is also conveniently located just behind the already existing Art Gallery of Alberta and will be two city blocks East of the new Ice District. So you can easily have a whole day of history and entertainment!

The Funicular

Edmonton is an active city and is quickly expanding the public areas around our large river valley. One of the newest ways they are doing this is with a Funicular, which is like an outdoor elevator. Next to it there will be large cascading stairs and lookout points to the river. This will connect to the already existing river trails and beautiful Louise McKinney Park, a gorgeous public park that sits right beside the river. This site is also only a few minutes walk from our downtown campus and about 20 minutes from our main (North) campus by public transit. This is set to open in 2017.

Winter Wonderlands

Ok, so this one isn’t specific to just next year, but the holiday season in Edmonton is something that is pretty amazing to see if you’ve never experienced a Canadian winter. A lot of different places in Edmonton get decorated with lights and magical displays for the holidays in December. Here at UAlberta we decorate the trees with lights and some years we even have outdoor festivities like the Green & Gold Fest (pictured above).

Whyte Avenue, a popular shopping street only a few minutes walk from UAlberta, also has some gorgeous window displays and the street is strung with lights for the holidays. There’s even a street in Edmonton called “Candy Cane Lane”. All the houses on this street put on elaborate Christmas/holiday displays for the public to view. This street is a popular place to go with friends and family. We suggest bringing some warm beverages, like hot chocolate, and wandering through the magical displays.